In
yesterday's post, I predicted that 2010 would be the year the Knowledge Management (KM) thrived or died. In its current state, KM has turned into a mechanism that attempts to capture explicit knowledge in a way that is seamless to the person creating that knowledge. The results turn out to be databases filled with retrievable information presented as contributed knowledge from someone within the firm. So, we end up with CRM databases, document management systems, research capturing tools and expertise databases. All of which are simply ways that KM has attempted to capture the explicit knowledge of those within the firm as it written down in order to be retrieved at a later time by others in the firm. Unfortunately, this has become the classical KM routine, and the resulting product turns out to be a rarely used resource because the data is either 'dirty', obsolete or irrelevant to the current needs of those within the firm. It is this type classical KM strategy of capturing explicit knowledge and supporting the resources that store and display this explicit knowledge that is killing KM. So, how can KM break away from this classical approach?
In their blog post "
Networking Reconsidered", John Hagel III and John Seely Brown discuss networking and how the most important knowledge is tacit knowledge - "the knowledge that we have all accumulated from our experiences" - the type of knowledge that cannot be written or captured in an easy way. While I was reading the posting, I started viewing it from a KM perspective. Some of the same issues that Hagel and Brown discuss have real application in the KM world. For example, bring up the phrase "networking" and many KM professionals picture "images of classical networking and schmoozing, driven by individuals intent upon prying business cards out of others and relentlessly expanding their contact lists, manipulatively using their contacts to advance their own interests." In fact, most attorneys conjure up this image as well, and it is one of the primary reasons that some attorneys do not share this knowledge in the KM resources. They think that if they do share, then it will give someone else in the firm a way to steal this information and use it for their own benefit.
Hagel and Brown suggest implementing a process that moves away from the classical approach of "manipulative exchange" of knowledge and create a new approach that focuses on understanding the current needs of those within the firm and aligning them with others that can help solve those current needs. They suggest that social networking as a way of creating this new approach. However, before you start rolling your eyes, let's take a look at their reasoning.
First of all, Hagel and Brown suggest that the goal of networking should be the building of long-term relationships. These long-term relationships are built by working on common issues, working together to solve these issues, and building a trust that everyone in the relationship is learning and contributing. By building long-term relationships, you build "trust", and by building "trust" you build in the reciprocity that becomes a powerful foundation for future needs.
Traditional KM and networking is designed to capture explicit knowledge and then use it to identify others within the firm that you should introduce yourself because they have handled a similar issue in the past. This type of "Push" technique is usually limited in value because that information may not be captured, thus "we cannot push if we do not yet know who we are pushing towards." Even when the "push" technique works, it usually creates a "one-way learning mindset" where one person is seeking to learn from another, "rather than creating the foundation for collaborative learning."
Hagel and Brown promote the idea that social networking creates the ability to collaborate on current issues (two-way learning) rather than attempting to identify past successes and apply them to the current issue (one-way learning). Because social networking exposes current needs rather than past successes, it creates a way to draw people together in a collaborative learning process. Instead of the traditional method of capturing knowledge, social networking allows us to "participate in the knowledge flows that matter the most" to the firm and exposes "our ability to master a new set of practices at a personal level.
Traditional KM practices are still important in capturing the explicit knowledge of the firm, but this should not be the overall mission. KM must attempt to expand its goals by creating methods to expose the "knowledge flows" of the firm as well. The goal is to expose the tacit knowledge, not simply capturing it. By exposing the tacit knowledge through social networking, KM can create a conduit for individuals to share current issues they are confronting and attract other individuals to collaborate in addressing and solving these issues.
I mentioned in my 10 predictions for 2010 that both Westlaw and Lexis would have new interfaces for their research products by the end of the year. In reality, I was kind of hedging my bets on this one because I actually knew these changes were already coming. Last month I was talking with a consultant who casually said something like "Boy, people are going to be scrambling when Westlaw comes out with its `Project Cobalt` next year." At that point I immediately knocked him out of the way and did a quick Google search for "Project Cobalt" AND Westlaw. I found some subtle hints about Project Cobalt in an investor's meeting, and in a Financial Times analyst comment. So, change is afoot at Thomson Reuters!! 
